[Vitruvius]

Originally Posted by Guna

Did not vote either of them.

I found the steering of the i20 to be very hard even at low speeds. It requires some effort to move it from the 'straight ahead' position and this makes it difficult to do fine steering corrections when you are driving straight IMO.

Has this behaviour changed since the elite i20 days? I have an elite and I find the steering to be incredibly light and well mannered. It has a tendency to self-center back to zero position whenever you make adjustments. Although I acknowledge that these perceptions may be subjective

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Vitruvius

Has this behaviour changed since the elite i20 days? I have an elite and I find the steering to be incredibly light and well mannered. It has a tendency to self-center back to zero position whenever you make adjustments. Although I acknowledge that these perceptions may be subjective

In fact I do have Elite i20 and yes it is overly light, even at higher speeds and has a strong tendency to self center, slightly more than what I would have liked. I used to find it irritating but now I have got used to it. But the steering on Elite i20 is far better suited for city driving than the one on N Line.

[pavanmadhini]

Polo all the way! More fun to drive, mature suspension and solid, solid build.

And I've put my money where my mouth is - ended up buying the Highline+ AT for an OTR of 10.xx lakhs. The top end of the i20 N Line AT is atleast 3-4 lakhs, which i don't think the i20 deserves.

[karanddd]

I still wonder what I am missing re. the Polo. When I drove the new one (the 3 pot turbo with automatic transmission) I found the drive to be very average, steering feel to be numb, the power and acceleration to be standard, not at all special. What are all the people who recommend the Polo seeing that I am not seeing? I get that the new I20 may also not have much poke, artificially assisted EPS etc. but the Polo is exactly the same, with fewer everyday necessity type features and more expensive / difficult after sales service. I honestly do not see any reason to recommend the Polo over the I20, with the obvious caveat that no car under 10 lakhs (or 20 or 30 even for that matter) can get a genuine driving enthusiast all that excited. Big up to Hyundai for trying at least.

[Shreyas_H]

Weighing in as someone who has just bought a Polo 2 months back - this is indeed a difficult choice.

Had the N line been available when I got my Polo it would have definitely caught my attention, but at that price I do feel there are better options in the market (no warm hatches though). Hence my vote where my money went - the Polo.

For someone looking to get a nice family friendly modern hatch that is reasonable fast and well kitted, i20 N line is a great choice - despite being slightly overpriced

For someone looking for a fun car with a great engine and who doesn't need to ferry 3-4 people regularly, Polo is the way to go. For someone on a budget, go for the comfortline TSI variant to save money upfront and upgrade as you like - being an old platform there's a ton of stuff you can do with a Polo without breaking the bank

[car_guy1998]

Polo anyday over i20 due to explosive 1.0 TSI engine (though I'm yet to drive the i20 N-Line), looks much better than the i20 despite being more than a decade old design and aftermarket mod friendly as well. And, the Polo GT TSI, which costs 12L OTR, is cheaper than i20 N-Line N8 DCT, which costs 14.1L OTR, by nearly 2L.

i20 is for the people, who cares more about service network and more suitable for a family man, who wants rear seat space and comfort as well as features and doesn't care much about the performance.

[RoadMonkey]

I voted for the Hyundai i20 N Line.

I own a '20 VW Polo 1.0 TSI. I'm not happy with Volkswagen at all. My car's having issues since the last week of July and there's still no resolution in sight. The dealership has patched up my car with a BCM from an accidental car in their workshop after I complained to everyone under the sun. But VW itself is still giving tentative dates on when they'll ship a compatible BCM for my car.

All sort of cars can break down, what matters is how fast the problem is resolved. I know Hyundai is no saint, but honestly, my experience with VW in the last 2 months has left me disillusioned to the point of wanting to just sell the car and book my losses. Any email I send to VW customer care complaining about VW, they forward it to the dealer. The dealer's being as cooperative as it could be, they've been responsive and despite my pestering, the service manager is polite and always answers my queries. However, this is the last VW I'm going to buy and I'll not let anyone buy a VW in my extended family either.

A slightly less fun car that you can drive regularly > A more fun car that's parked while you end up driving your old car/two wheeler/getting a cab.

[Small Bot]

To be really honest, I'd go with neither, based on my usage. I know that I'd mostly use the car for city driving, with the occasional chance to stretch the car to 60-70 kmph on a free empty patch for maybe 3-4 minutes.

Given that scenario, I'd rather pick the i10 Nios Turbo over both the i20 N-line and the Polo. Most normal non-enthusiast consumers like me would prefer a very practical car which can be also be fun-to-drive, rather a fun-to-drive car which can be practical at times.

I own a 2nd gen i10 and an i20 Active SX, so believe me when I say the i10 is maneuverable in city traffic like nobody's business. At usual city traffic speeds (20-40 kmph), you will not be left desiring better handling or steering feedback, instead you'll be thanking how zippy this tiny car is. And the i10 Nios Turbo is demonstrably faster than the i20 N-line inside city limits.

Against Polo: Not very practical as a daily beater, not very spacious, service is an arrow in the dark, though a fun car.
Against i20 N-line: A bit too large for heavy traffic, a bit too scratch-and-dust-prone with the extra bits, a bit too expensive, though a practical and moderately fun car.

[TN13Sleeper]

Voted for Polo. But realize that it is not a complete package by any means. It's sad that the Indian market has to settle for these cars which are termed as quick.

Ford: Around this time last year, there was a Team-BHP article about Ford bring Focus ST to India.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ing-india.html (Ford Focus, Focus ST coming to India)


Volkswagen:


Hyundai:

[anuragbagur]

Voted for the Polo. As many have already mentioned, Polo does NOT make sense if it is the only car in the family. But if one already has a larger ride and looking for a fun and quick hatchback as an add-on then it is simply hard to ignore. While Hyundai definitely has done a great job with i20 n-line, I feel it is over-priced (especially for someone who would want to buy it as the only car for family).

[ais]

i20 N Line- not worth the price and massive turbo lag. May not age well looks wise. Display is a copy of BMW G20, which isn't nice anyway.

Polo GT Turbo 1l torque convertor- scary feedback on Team-BHP.com about service quality, reliability of car and I would use it on highways, so don't need any uncertainty there. Outdated. Yes, its a cracker to drive.

[JishD]

At these prices (esp N-Line) , I would plonk my money on the Sonet or the Venue DCT. Both are pretty decent performance wise for the segment , give better ground clearance for bad roads , and will have better resale. Sonet is loaded with creature comforts too - though rear seat space is quite a bummer !

If considering a manual , a Kushaq Ambition or Taigun Comfortline are also interesting options.

[sachin_cs]

Voted for others as both the cars don't cut for me, first the Polo- it's a lovely car but then space is at premium. I20 N line is itself a good effort by Hyundai but then DCT tuning of hyundai and 12+ seconds for a ton aren't particularly sporty.

I will rather pick a Skoda Rapid Onyx AT for 13.xx on road (after discounts), it's the most sensible, practical and also fun behind the wheel is what I feel. Though old but she still manages to look contemporary at least from the front and also addresses Polo's biggest achilles heel- rear seat comfort.

P.S.- Dynamically VAG cars are superior no doubts about it, Hyundai has improved a lot but still not there yet.

[Satyakart]

Polo any day- 11 years and still polo aged well...in these 11 years I20 changed 4 times and the other three generations looks dated

[AJ18]

Originally Posted by androdev

I sell Polo TSI cars for a living on this forum.

At this point we are probably better at Polo sales and service advice than most VW dealerships in the country.